Final thoughts and observations from the 49ers’ win over Green Bay

-Guard Mike Iupati is so quick, sometimes he looks like a tight end out there when he pulls. He might be rubber stamp Pro Bowler from now on.

-The offensive line got very little help in pass protection from backs or tight ends. They were going with their five against the Packers’ four and sometimes five pass rushers and they allowed one sack.

-Fox commentator Troy Aikman said that Greg Roman and Joe Staley went over the tape of Staley’s regular season game against Clay Matthews when Staley gave up two and a half sacks. Staley’s technique was poor and they corrected it against the Packers. Staley allowed one sack to Matthews, but that was after quarterback Colin Kaepernick held the ball for over four seconds.

-The Packers rushed three defenders four times and then had a spy on Kaepernick. It was effective three out of four times. Look for the Falcons to do the same thing.

-Rookie receiver A.J. Jenkins was 2 for 2 on his first two snaps. Both of them involved two tight ends, three receivers and no running back in the red zone, and both plays resulted in touchdowns. The first was a 20-yard run by Kaepernick and the second was a 12-yard pass to Michael Crabtree.

-Randy Moss doesn’t seem to adjust to the deep ball as well as he once did. He just doesn’t pick it up.

-It took the Packers until the second quarter to run right at Justin Smith. He took on the double team and made the tackle on DuJuan Harris for a 2-yard gain. Amazing.

-The 49ers could not settle on a third receiver for this game. Delanie Walker, Ted Ginn Jr., and A.J. Jenkins all took turns at the job and they all combined seven targets and two catches for 20 yards.

-Out of the pistol, LaMichael James hits the hole faster than Frank Gore. He gets so much momentum so fast he’s hard to bring down, even though he’s only 193 pounds.

-How tough do you have to be to play this game? Staley thought he broke his arm in the first quarter while he was blocking Clay Matthews. In the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Frank Gore, Staley wrenched the arm again when he collided with Mike Iupati and you could hear him scream in agony right through the broadcast. He stayed in the game.

-The run threat of Kaepernick opened up a lane for him to throw to Michael Crabtree for a 20-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Linebacker A.J. Hawk didn’t get much depth in his drop because it looked like he was spying Kaepernick. It allowed a free path for Kaepernick to throw the post route to Crabtree for the score.

-What happened to Ted Ginn Jr.? He completely broke out of his scared bunny routine for this game. He returned punts with determination and looked decent on his snaps from scrimmage.

-Dashon Goldson said his late hit that drew a personal foul was a “good call.” He also said he will not change the way he plays football despite the penalties and the fines he’s incurring. Goldson flew into the pile and hit running back DuJuan Harris with a helmet-to-helmet hit after a 3-yard gain that put the ball at the 49ers’ 31 in the second quarter.

Joe Staley led an amazing offensive line effort

-The 49ers did not do much defensively against the Packers. They played man all over the field and let the safeties help out on deep routes. It’s the same thing they’ve done all year. Later in the game they did bring more blitzes.

-Late in the second quarter, Justin Smith had the requisite blood on his pants from a cut on his elbow. Usually, it’s somebody else’s blood, however.

-How about Clay Matthews slamming into Mike Iupati two plays before the two-minute warning right before the half. It was as if he ran into a brick wall.

-Just before the two-minute warning, a blitzer came free and Kaepernick shed the potential sack and raced for 19 yards. That’s an example of turning a bad play into a highly productive one and the reason he can make a lot of mistakes and still be effective.

-LaMichael James had a terrific blitz pickup on Clay Matthews, that allowed Colin Kaepernick to scramble for 19 yards.

-One factor in David Akers’ inaccuracy might be the snaps. Against the Packers, the snap on an extra point and on Akers’ 36-yard field goal were high.

-Packers made some fundamental mistakes in this game. They continued to play man coverage against Kaepernick’s scrambles and they didn’t go with four receivers to take Patrick Willis or NaVorro Bowman off the field often enough.

-Packers started to fall apart in the third quarter. They had two linebackers go after LaMichael James on the read option out of the pistol that resulted in Kaepernick’s 56-yard touchdown run, then they dropped the ensuing kickoff, then missed a blitz pickup and then tight end Tom Crabtree dropped a pass.

-Jonathan Goodwin has at least two low shotgun snaps a game.

-Greg Roman worked with Dom Capers in Carolina and really knew the Packers’ defense.

-Patrick Willis blitzed three times, he got one sack and forced Aaron Rodgers to throw it away twice.